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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27595835">it'll carry my heart home to you</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverHeart09/pseuds/SilverHeart09'>SilverHeart09</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Who</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, I tried to write this for halloween, Post Judoon prison, also sharing a bed cause I'm a sucker for that, but writers block amirite, it's got Thirteen and Yaz being soft though, or the author watched Bly Manor and wanted something spooky</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:13:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,088</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27595835</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverHeart09/pseuds/SilverHeart09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>‘No life signs inside,’ the Doctor said. ‘Maybe they’ve gone away for the weekend?’ She tilted the sonic towards her face and frowned at it. ‘It’s on the blink,’ she murmured so quietly only Yaz heard her.<br/>‘Or they’ve gone away forever,’ Ryan said, making spooky gestures with his hands. Yaz hit him on the arm.</p><p>A rainy evening, a haunted house, three frustrated humans, and one emotionally constipated Time Lord. What could go wrong?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Thirteenth Doctor/Yasmin Khan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>76</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>it'll carry my heart home to you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I TRIED to write this for Halloween but got stuck on the ending (as usual, are we surprised). <br/>Honestly I wanted to try and mix spooky season with some cute thasmin moments and this is what happened. <br/>Story title is from 'me and the devil' by the Fratellis.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>‘See! </span>
  <em>
    <span>Told </span>
  </em>
  <span>you,’ the Doctor announced cheerfully, though Yaz could hear her teeth chattering.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘That was not a quick five minute walk though, was it, Doc?’ Graham said grumpily. ‘We’ve been walking for a bleeding hour!’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘But look at the views, Graham.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘It’s pitch black, Doc.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘... that gorgeous sky...’</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘It’s pitch black and pissing it down, Doc.’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>‘... all the wildlife you’d have missed if we hadn’t walked.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘There’s a SLUG on my SHOE.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Alright, be a pessimist then,’ the Doctor said with a sniff. ‘You’ve gotta learn to enjoy the little things in life, Graham.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘I’ll enjoy them when I’m dry and have a cuppa, ta.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The house loomed ahead of them in the distance, large and commanding against the black sky. It was like a house from every horror movie Yaz had ever watched, gothic in feature with stone brick parapets and turrets with little windows through which no friendly light shone through. There was a pair of enormous wooden doors set into the front of the house, with a garden which clearly hadn’t been tended to in a long time leading up to it. They passed dead and twisted rose bushes, overgrown bushes, and cracked flagstones with weeds pushing up through them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘I think I had a nightmare about this exact situation once,’ Ryan said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Doctor, who Yaz suspected was likely in her element with a spooky house on a hill, bounded cheerfully up to the front door and pressed her finger against the doorbell. They heard it echo inside the house, a shrill high sound, but no-one came to answer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Don’t think anyone’s home,’ Yaz said, peering through a window into a bleak and dust covered sitting room. ‘It looks abandoned.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I’d rather walk back to the TARDIS then go in there, Doc,’ Graham said nervously. ‘You know me, always up for an adventure, but it does look a little bit extremely haunted.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘That road will be completely underwater,’ Yaz pointed out. ‘We’ll end up camping up a tree.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Doctor had pulled out her sonic screwdriver by this point and was scanning the door thoughtfully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘No life signs inside,’ she said. ‘Maybe they’ve gone away for the weekend?’ She tilted the sonic towards her face and frowned at it. ‘It’s on the blink,’ she murmured so quietly only Yaz heard her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Or they’ve gone away </span>
  <em>
    <span>forever,’ </span>
  </em>
  <span>Ryan said, making spooky gestures with his hands. Yaz hit him on the arm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>One quick sonic and the door swung open with the most ominous </span>
  <em>
    <span>creaaaaak </span>
  </em>
  <span>that Ryan had ever heard in his life, revealing a dusty entrance hall which may once have been grand but had now fallen victim to the passage of time. The wooden bannisters were almost completely rotten away and the smell of dust and decay was strong in Ryan’s nostrils. Cobweb covered candlesticks adorned a small dresser just inside the hallway, and when the Doctor put a foot cautiously inside the floorboard creaked under her boot. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Hello?’ the Doctor called, but only her own voice echoed back to her. ‘Looks fine,’ she said with a shrug. ‘At least it’s dry. We can stay here tonight then make for the TARDIS in the morning, hopefully there’ll be some swimming cossies tucked away somewhere in case the road is still flooded.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She sounded, to Graham’s concerned ears anyway, deadly serious.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yaz produced a small lighter from her pocket and started to light the candles in the entrance hall, lifting up the heavy ornate candlestick holders and passing them, one at a time, to her friends. In the dim light more objects were being revealed. An umbrella left abandoned by the door, a pair of muddy walking boots with no owner, portraits of men and women in elaborate outfits glaring down at them accusingly from the walls.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘16th century outfits, 20th century walking boots,’ the Doctor said thoughtfully. ‘I don’t anyone has lived here for a long time though, years by the looks of it.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Looks like they left in a hurry too,’ Yaz said, pointing out the trail of clothes leading from the stairs to the doors, an odd sock littered here and there and one solitary slipper which had been almost completely obscured by mould. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘I can’t remember, Doc,’ Graham said slowly. ‘The night at Shelley’s… did we decide that ghosts were or weren’t real?’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘I think we left it open,’ Ryan replied.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘You’ve never actually seen one though, have you, Doctor?’ Yaz whispered. ‘A real ghost I mean.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘I’ve seen things that look like ghosts but weren’t,’ the Doctor whispered back. ‘There’s always a rational explanation.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door slammed shut behind them and the four of them screamed, jumping up into the air. Ryan dropped his candlestick and the heavy </span>
  <em>
    <span>thud </span>
  </em>
  <span>of it hitting the floor reverberated around the empty hall. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘That’s probably worth a fortune!’ Graham admonished his grandson.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘I don’t think anyone’s coming back for it!’ Ryan retorted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Come on you lot,’ the Doctor said, turning her attention to the upper level. ‘Let’s check upstairs, see if we can find somewhere to sleep.’</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>The rooms upstairs were in a similar state, dust covered and damp, but with a fire roaring to life in each fireplace and a quick change of sheets - which Graham found tucked away in the bottom of a drawer - it looked a little cleaner and more presentable. The windows upstairs appeared to be sturdier, and as a result the wind outside was a little less howling and more muffled and subdued. With candles lit and dotted on any available surface it even looked a little homey, though Yaz couldn’t wait to get out of the house as soon as morning came. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were a number of bedrooms in the house, but they’d (Graham) decided they should all stick together for safety (in case of ghosts) and had found two rooms separated by a door with a gigantic bed in each one. Graham and Ryan were top-and-tailing in one bed and Yaz and the Doctor were sharing the other, although currently the Doctor was sat on the bed banging her sonic screwdriver against the palm of her hand and glaring at it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Still on the blink?’ Yaz asked, trying to detangle her wet and knotty hair with her fingers so she could put it into a braid. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘It’s not happy,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘It’s like there’s some kind of low level interference mucking around with the settings.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yaz didn't like the sound of that at all, but before she could ask exactly what </span>
  <em>
    <span>low level interference </span>
  </em>
  <span>meant there was a knock on the door and Ryan popped his head around it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘You two alright?’ he asked. ‘We’re gonna try and get some sleep, wake us up if you spot a ghost.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Nah, we’ll just point it in your direction,’ Yaz said with a grin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The bed wasn’t the comfiest she’d ever slept in, but at least these sheets were clean - although there was a faint smell of must to them - and she added another log to the fire before climbing in and gazing up at what may once have been a beautiful canopy above her head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Doctor, seemingly giving up on the sonic for the time being, kicked off her boots and coat and climbed in as well. They lay side by side, looking up at the ceiling as the light from the fire slowly began to die and the candles started to burn down to the wick one by one.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yaz eyed the Doctor as subtly as she could out of the corner of her eye. This was the first time she’d had the opportunity to be this close to her after her stint in Judoon prison. It had changed her, that much was for certain. She was a little quieter and a little more subdued when she thought people weren’t looking, and she was hanging around her fam a lot more than she had before. There was no more dropping them off and telling them she’d be back in an hour, she now stuck to their sides like glue.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She also didn't sleep. Or at least, she slept way less than she used to, which was hardly ever. The only decent night’s sleep she’d gotten over the last few weeks was when she’d been struck by a falling beam as they’d escaped a house on fire, during another one of the TARDIS’ accidental ‘whoops I landed us in the fire of London!’ mishaps, and had spent most of the evening either slumped over Ryan’s shoulder as he’d carried her through the burning city or snoring on the TARDIS sofa. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yaz could see her now fighting against the pull of sleep, every time her eyelids would drift shut she’d snap them back open again and glare angrily up at the canopy. Yaz didn't know how long she’d been shut up in that prison for, only that she’d been alone for longer than she’d admit to. Her friend didn't really age physically, or at least it took her a very long time to show any signs of ageing, but there was a new heaviness in her walk and a sadness in her eyes that had only been amplified after the events on Gallifrey.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was, Yaz suspected, a bit of a mess at the moment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yaz rolled onto her side and moved as close to the Doctor as she dared. Surprisingly, the Doctor turned onto her side too to face Yaz and reached down to entwine their hands together. Slowly, Yaz felt her friend begin to relax beside her. It was warm beneath the sheets, especially now she’d finally just about dried off from the horrible weather, and Yaz remembered nights with her sister spent hidden under the duvet when they’d been children, hiding from the thunderstorm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not that her feelings for her sister compared in any way to what Yaz felt for the Doctor. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But just before Yaz drifted off, the window blew open with a </span>
  <em>
    <span>bang! </span>
  </em>
  <span>and the two women sat up with a startled yelp as the wind and the rain rushed in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a distant thud from the room next door and Graham and Ryan came running in, Ryan brandishing a poker and Graham holding a shoe. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘It was all I could find,’ he said to Yaz, rolling his eyes when he spotted her meaningful glance towards his choice of weapon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Just the weather,’ the Doctor said, securing the window tightly shut and sonicing it for good measure. ‘Nothing spooky or supernatural about it.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘You trying to convince us or yourself, Doc?’ Graham asked her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Ghosts can’t open windows, Graham,’ Ryan said, as though this was obvious. ‘Their hands just go straight through them.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘I’m pretty sure ghosts have opened windows in every horror film I’ve ever seen,’ Graham replied. ‘Anyway, night you two. Give us a shout if anything else goes bump in the night.’ </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two men left the room and Yaz got back into bed, already missing the Doctor’s warm and reassuring presence beside her, but the Doctor stayed at the window, gazing out at the dark lawn beyond, her shoulders hunched and head low. </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Yaz was woken up by a knock at the inner door of their room and she startled awake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was pitch black in the room, the fire and candles long since extinguished, but the extra sonicing had kept the window shut and the weather was once again muffled behind thick panes of glass. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yaz lifted her head, trying to remember what had woken her. The Doctor had finally got back into bed and was fast asleep, face pressed into her pillow and half obscured by her hair. She’d pulled the blankets all the way up to her chin and was burrowed beneath them. She’d also squirrelled her way as close to Yaz as she could possibly get without physically touching her, and she was so close Yaz could count every freckle on her face even in the dim light. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The knock sounded again, and Yaz climbed out of bed as carefully as she could to open the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘We heard a ghost,’ Ryan said loudly, and she shushed him immediately. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Don’t shush me!’ Ryan protested. ‘There’s literally a ghost outside that door, we could all be murdered in the next few minutes!’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘If you wake her up </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’ll </span>
  </em>
  <span>murder you in the next few minutes,’ Yaz hissed, gesturing with her thumb over her shoulder to the Doctor, still curled up asleep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Flipping Nora, is she actually asleep?’ Graham said, sticking his head round the door, eyes like saucers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Not for much longer if you two don’t shut up,’ Yaz replied, pushing the two of them back into their room and closing the door quietly behind her. ‘What did you say? There’s a ghost behind that door?’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looked at the door in question, the one leading from the mens’ room out onto the landing. It seemed pretty ghost-free.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘We heard footsteps, the floorboards creaking, and whispering,’ Graham said. ‘Swear on my life if we open that door a ghost is gonna come in. Don’t you think we should wake her -’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘No,’ Ryan said, surprising Yaz by shaking his head firmly. ‘Let’s explore first, I’m sure the Doctor will wake up if she hears us screaming for our lives. And if she doesn’t, well. It’s been nice knowing you.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The candles in the men’s room were still burning, and Yaz lifted a candlestick and made her way cautiously towards the door. It seemed like a pretty ordinary door, wooden and sturdy looking. She listened carefully as she approached, but could hear nothing from the other side. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Behind her, Ryan lifted his poker. Graham had found a broken curtain rail and was brandishing that. It looked slightly more sturdy than a shoe, to be fair. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yaz gripped her candlestick tightly, ready to throw it at whatever ghostly apparition appeared from behind the door. She cast a glance back towards the inner door, still shut, still keeping the Doctor safe. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Brandishing the candle, Yaz flung open the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The landing was empty. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘I swear we heard something,’ Ryan insisted in an urgent whisper. ‘Floorboards creaking, someone talking. There was someone here!’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Well they’re not here now,’ Yaz said, peering into the gloom. There was a tall, high window at the end of the landing which was letting in the dim moonlight from outside, such as it was with the storm still raging, and it was casting the landing and the curve of the staircase in a gloomy light. The house was silent, no creaking or mysterious footsteps, and Yaz began to move cautiously towards the far window.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A sudden bolt of lightning lit up the landing, followed by a roll of thunder in the distance, but in that flash Yaz saw something, a figure on the lawn outside the window.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Was that a…’ Ryan began.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Yeah, I saw it too,’ Graham concurred, gripping his curtain pole a little tighter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yaz continued moving slowly, candlestick heavy in her hands. Rain still lashed against the window, a heavy torrent that showed no signs of stopping any time soon, but there was something moving out there in the darkness, a figure walking through the ruined garden. It was too far away and too gloomy for Yaz to make out any details, but there was something weirdly familiar about the shape…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She stopped at the window and pressed her hand against it, squinting through years of grime on the glass and the never ending downpour of the rain to try and make out the figure a little better. It seemed too solid to be a ghost, but then what was it ghosts were supposed to look like exactly?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Wait,’ Ryan said, joining Yaz at the window and frowning. ‘That doesn’t half look like -’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another bolt of lightning flashed and illuminated the figure perfectly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yaz gasped and spun around, sprinting back to her room and flinging open the door, but she knew the bed would be empty. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Racing down the stairs, taking them two at a time, Yaz abandoned her candlestick and ran out into the rain. It was freezing cold and she was soaked in seconds, but she continued onwards barefoot, slipping and sliding on the muddy ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Doctor!’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She grabbed her friend’s arm but the Doctor didn't hear her. Her gaze was turned skyward, looking up into the black clouds while rain splashed onto her face. Yaz shook her arm more urgently.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Doctor.’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The Doctor looked down at her and Yaz yelped. Her eyes were pitch black and huge, she seemed to be staring deep into Yaz’s soul.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At the sound of Yaz’s scream the Doctor blinked and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering in the cold. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Yaz? What’s going on? Why are we outside?’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her eyes were green again, warm and concerned, though equally Yaz could see she looked frightened and her lips were tinged blue with the cold. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Come back in the house,’ Yaz said, pulling her hand. ‘Come on.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Doctor followed her blindly back in, shivering in the rain and limping. She was barefoot too, and the ground was cracked and covered in gravel and broken bits of concrete.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Blimey, Doc,’ Graham said, meeting them at the door with a blanket which he flung around her shoulders. ‘You must be barmy, going out there without shoes or a coat.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘How did I get out there?’ the Doctor asked, face pinched in confusion. ‘Last thing I remember I was in bed and Yaz was snoring -’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Oi!’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘- and then…’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She tailed off, hugging the blanket around her shoulders. Yaz saw how vulnerable she looked then, underneath all her bravado and confidence. She was a lost soul really, more transparent than she had been before Gallifrey and her long stint in prison. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘That’s not creepy at all,’ Ryan said, looking terrified. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘We should stay together,’ Yaz decided. ‘Keep an eye on each other. Even if it isn’t ghosts there’s definitely something weird going on.’ </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They went back up the stairs, Yaz pulling the still dazed Doctor along behind her while Ryan kept looking nervously back down into the dark hallway. Dawn was still a while away, but they had no chance of leaving and getting back to the TARDIS in the current weather. They’d be washed away by flooded fields before they got anywhere close.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Yaz relit the fire once they were safely back in their room and Ryan went around finding as many candles as he could to light those as well. Yaz draped her own and the Doctor's wet clothes over a drying rack and moved it close to the fire. The Doctor was sitting on the bed wearing Ryan’s jumper with the blanket over her legs, looking curiously out the window. She’d barely said a word since they’d brought her back in from outside, but at least her eyes hadn’t turned black again. Her expression was one of melancholy, she looked almost defeated, but when she noticed Yaz was staring at her she plastered a smile on her face immediately.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Not been possessed in ages,’ she said, almost cheerfully. ‘Forgot how horrendously non-consensual it feels.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘You got </span>
  <em>
    <span>possessed?’ </span>
  </em>
  <span>Graham spluttered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Probably,’ the Doctor said, seemingly nonplussed. ‘Unless any of you have any better ideas?’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Is it gonna happen again?’ Ryan asked nervously, but the Doctor only shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘So there’s a ghost walking around possessing people in a house we’re all still stuck in,’ Graham said, rubbing his eyes. ‘Great.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘I don’t think it’s a ghost,’ the Doctor said, shivering in Ryan’s oversized jumper. ‘Didn't feel like one, it felt… </span>
  <em>
    <span>older.’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>‘What do you mean?’ Yaz asked, noticing the way the Doctor's eyes were beginning to dull a little, the clear sign she was losing herself to memories. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘There’s all kinds of spirits and entities you lot don’t know about,’ the Doctor said, pulling her blanket higher up her bare legs. ‘Or you know </span>
  <em>
    <span>of </span>
  </em>
  <span>them, you just gave them different names. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Frozen II </span>
  </em>
  <span>got it right with the elements; Air, Wind, Fire, Water. Those four will outlive all of us.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘What about the magical fifth spirit that turned out to be Elsa herself?’ Ryan teased. Yaz, Graham, and the Doctor all raised an eyebrow at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘What?!’ Ryan protested. ‘It’s not as good as the first one but it’s alright.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘There is no magical fifth spirit,’ the Doctor confirmed. ‘Or at least - not in the way </span>
  <em>
    <span>Disney </span>
  </em>
  <span>described it. There </span>
  <em>
    <span>are </span>
  </em>
  <span>more elements though, way more than four.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘On this planet?’ Yaz asked, eyes wide.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘And infinitely more on others,’ the Doctor confirmed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘What does this have to do with you being possessed though, Doc?’ Graham asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>‘It has everything to do with it,’ </b>
  <span>Ryan said, his eyes black.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The other three screamed but, quick as a flash, the Doctor had darted forward with her sonic held aloft and was scanning him, muttering to herself as she read the results.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Non-corporeal, not astral, could be a Gelth but doesn’t smell like gas,’ the Doctor mused. She looked up at Ryan, head tilted. ‘Are you actually from this planet? I don’t recognise you.’</span>
</p><p>
  <b>‘How about now.’</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Ryan lurched forwards for the Doctor, slamming his forehead against her own. The Doctor jumped back with a pained cry, pressing her hand to her forehead as Ryan slumped back against the grubby carpet. Yaz dove for the Doctor, Graham dove for Ryan. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Get it out, Yaz,’ the Doctor yelled, one hand pressing against her forehead and the other tightly gripping Yaz’s forearm. ‘Get it out!’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Tell me how,’ Yaz begged her, trying to hold her face still but failing as the Doctor cried out again and managed to twist herself free. There was a small trail of blood leaking out of her ears, but she seemed less manic. The Doctor gritted her teeth, hands pressed against her head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘No - it’s, it’s fine. I’ve got it. Hold on. Pass me that bottle?’ she pleaded, pointing towards a discarded bottle of what may have once contained perfume near the foot of the bed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yaz took off the stopper and the Doctor took a deep breath in before squeezing her eyes tight and leaning forward, exhauling some kind of thick, grey smoke as she did so. It hovered in the air for a moment, darting this way and that, before disappearing into the bottle. Yaz slammed the stopper back on, and the Doctor slumped forward. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ryan blinked from the floor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘That felt extremely non-consensual,’ he agreed with a groan. ‘Did not enjoy.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Doctor?’ Yaz asked softly. The Doctor was almost draped over her, head resting against Yaz’s shoulder and shoulders shaking. Yaz tucked blonde hair out of the way, there was still a small trickle of blood coming out of her ear but it was no longer flowing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Jeez, love,’ Graham said. ‘You alright? What was that?’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Doctor waved her hand at him dismissively. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘That was what Elsa would have been like if they’d actually based her character on the Snow Queen in the fairytale,’ she mumbled sleepily. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yaz held up the perfume bottle. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Is it in there?’ she asked. ‘The ghost?’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Hey, it’s daylight,’ Ryan realised. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yaz looked up. The sky outside was blue and sunshine was streaming through the windows. There was no sign the rain had ever fallen. The grass was green and dry, there were no puddles on the ground, even the windows were raindrop free.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘It’s been daylight for hours,’ the Doctor said, rolling off of Yaz’s lap to slump against the bed instead. ‘Just not in here.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Eh? How did you know that?’ Graham asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Doctor raised an eyebrow, her expression more like her old self.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Clue’s in the species,’ she said with a grin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Then how come you’re always late picking us up -’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Looks like midday,’ Yaz interrupted, looking out the window. ‘How -’ she paused and turned to the Doctor, confusion written across her face, ‘what was that thing, Doctor?’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘An evil element,’ the Doctor said, taking the perfume bottle from Yaz to scan it with interest. ‘Or not evil, just lost. It ended up on Earth and basically took over this small part of the countryside, forcing all the other elements to bend to its will. That’s why the storm was so bad last night, and why the house is super creepy. The owners of this house probably legged it years ago.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘There’s such a thing as an evil element?’ Ryan asked with a shudder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘I can probably work out what dimension it’s from and send it back there,’ the Doctor said, holding the small bottle up to her face. ‘Shouldn’t find its way back here again.’</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Shouldn’t?!’ </span>
  </em>
  <span>Graham spluttered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Doctor stood up, Ryan’s baggy jumper just covering the tops of her thighs, and looked out the window. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Looks like we’re in for a boggy trip back to the TARDIS, fam,’ she said. ‘Hopefully whoever lives here won’t mind us borrowing those walking boots.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘At least it’s stopped raining,’ Graham begrudgingly said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘See!’ the Doctor said cheerily, slapping him on the arm in encouragement. ‘Told you to look on the bright side of life, Graham!’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As the two men got up to get ready to leave, Yaz saw the Doctor look back at the perfume bottle in her hand, expression unreadable, before she put it deep into the pocket of her grey coat and started to dress. </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Back in the warmth of the TARDIS, Yaz hovered in the doorway and watched the Doctor frown at her console. It was later that day, maybe 11pm if Yaz tried to pinpoint an exact time (which she rarely did, one of the problems with living in a time machine) and the three humans had gone to bed after taking the ‘evil spirit’ back to its dimension. The Doctor, on the other hand, had made up some excuse about needing to do some maintenance and had been in here for hours.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Hey,’ Yaz called, and the Doctor jumped almost a foot in the air.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘How are you lot so stealthy?’ she said, sounding annoyed. ‘It’s like living with three ninjas.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Really? You’re really calling Graham a ninja?’ Yaz deadpanned, thinking back to only two days ago when Graham had dropped a mug on his foot. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Doctor leaned against the console, arms folded. Her hair was a mess and there were dark rings under her eyes. The console looked completely normal too. Normally when the Doctor had ‘maintenance’ to do it was wrenched open and wires were trailed all over the place, creating what Ryan liked to refer to as ‘a dyspraxic person’s worst nightmare’, but this evening it was quiet and still, with everything in its proper place.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yaz’s heart fell.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Doctor,’ she said quietly. ‘Please tell me you’re not… looking for </span>
  <em>
    <span>him.’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The Doctor's face darkened and she turned her head to the side, resolutely not looking at Yaz. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘We’ve talked about this,’ Yaz reminded her, feeling brave enough to take a step forward. ‘You said that if he was still alive that he’d be able to hide anywhere he wanted to, that you’d have no chance of finding him if he really wanted to disappear.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘He’s made mistakes before,’ the Doctor pointed out immediately. ‘Made it easier for me to find him. Who’s to say he won’t do it again?’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘And you’re sure he didn't die on Gallifrey?’ Yaz asked, as gently as she could. The destruction of the Doctor's home planet was, unsurprisingly, a bit of a sore point for her friend. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘He escaped the Kaasavin dimension,’ the Doctor said with a helpless shrug. ‘Teleporting off an exploding planet is hardly out of his skill set.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘You need to let it go,’ Yaz said softly. ‘You’re making yourself ill, we're all worried about you, </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m </span>
  </em>
  <span>worried about you.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Doctor looked up, her green eyes tired and defeated. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘I can’t let him loose on the universe again, Yaz,’ she said, sounding miserable. ‘I’ve lost too many people, too many </span>
  <em>
    <span>friends, </span>
  </em>
  <span>because I let myself remember the good old days when we were still friends. We’re not anymore, we’re nothing close.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She turned away suddenly, throwing down a lever. The TARDIS let out a disapproving hum and the Doctor glared at the central rotar. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘I think she wants you to go to bed,’ Yaz said, feeling a little as though the Doctor was an irritated toddler who was liable to throw a tantrum at any moment. She certainly behaved like one when she was tired, which she almost certainly was now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Beds are overrated. All you do is lie there!’ the Doctor said, gesturing with her hands. ‘There’s so much other stuff you could be doing, Yaz! There’s galaxies to explore, waterfalls to climb, oceans to walk across!’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘You can walk across an ocean?’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Yes! Let’s do it now, the boys can join us when they wake up.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Doctor made a dash to her controls but Yaz stood in her path and placed a hand gently on her arm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘First though,’ she said quietly. ‘We’re going to go to my room, and you’re going to sleep.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Doctor pouted. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘I don’t need sleep,’ she said moodily.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘You did last night,’ Yaz reminded her, picturing her friend’s slack face and quiet breaths beside her. She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t enjoyed sleeping next to the Doctor. In a way it was the only way that she could contribute to her welfare, and could contribute to protecting her in some small way. The Doctor was so closed up and silent nowadays it was impossible to even know what she was thinking, let alone what she was feeling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Doctor closed her mouth and looked down at Yaz’s hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yaz squeezed her arm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Quick eight hours, then we can walk across as many oceans as you like,’ she promised.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Doctor looked up at her, head tilted and a smile on her face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Yasmin Khan,’ she said softly. ‘Watching over me, eh?’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘Someone has to,’ Yaz pointed out, linking their arms together and pulling her away towards the corridors. ‘If the TARDIS could manifest herself in physical form I’m sure she would as well.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘The TARDIS doesn’t need to be in a physical form to take care of me,’ the Doctor pointed out. ‘Towels are always warm in the mornings, never ending supply of custard creams.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Behind them in the console room the TARDIS murmured quietly to herself as their voices drifted away, then she lowered the lights and the room was silent. </span>
</p><p>
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</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I really hope that ending was okay I left it in drafts for three weeks and that was the best I could come up with!<br/>Please leave me a comment if you liked it &lt;3<br/>Also I swear I wasn't planning on mentioning Frozen II but it just happened don't judge me.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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